"Evangelical Christians differ in their beliefs about capital punishment, often citing strong biblical and theological reasons either for the just character of the death penalty in extreme cases or for the sacredness of all life, including the lives of those who perpetrate serious crimes and yet have the potential for repentance and reformation," the resolution states. "We affirm the conscientious commitment of both streams of Christian ethical thought."

Public debate on the topic has grown in the wake of several botched executions. In June, the US Supreme Court upheld Oklahoma’s use of a controversial drug for lethal injection, saying the sedative used in the lethal injection cocktail does not violate the US Constitution's 8th Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

As The Christian Science Monitor reported in May, there has been a steady drop in executions across the states in the last two decades in response to declining rates of violent crime and a growing reliance on sentences for life in prison without the possibility of parole. “New death sentences in the US reached their lowest level in 40 years, the start of the death penalty’s modern era,” the Death Penalty Information Center reported at the end of last year. “The number of executions has declined in 11 of the past 15 years.”

Nebraska recently ended capital punishment by legislative vote, becoming the first Republican-controlled state in more than 40 years to abolish the death penalty.

During his recent visit to the US, Pope Francis denounced the death penalty before Congress and called for a ban on capital punishment worldwide. He urged authorities to stop the execution of Kelly Gissendaner, sentenced to death for her role in the February 1997 slaying of her husband.